Formal Night Dinner

March 16, 2012 – Formal Night Dinner

With all the dining options available on our ship there is one place we generally don’t eat, and it might surprise you. The Main Dining room, or as it is called on Silhouette, The Grand Cuvee restaurant. The reason for this is fairly logistical in nature. These are assigned tables and generally very full. So, really, where are we to sit? However, if you feel a need to go you will generally request to join the main dining room experience at the late seating, which is generally a little lighter. And you must get permission from the Hotel Director or Staff Captain to do so.

Laura’s birthday occurred during this last cruise and the team wished to do a celebratory dinner for her, both for the birthday and as a bon voyage meal prior to her departure. Laura doesn’t like a fuss being made for her and with her efforts to ensure a smooth transition she was generally working late into the evening. She initially suggested that any going away dinner should be at the buffet at the Ocean View Café, our casual dining option. However, we reminded her that the ritual of something more special was important to us and she finally acceded to our request. Since her boyfriend, Joseph, was also traveling on the cruise she made the request for us to dine at Grand Cuvee.

To make it very special she identified the last formal night as the evening for our celebration. Not only would this put us amongst our guests in their favorite regalia (kilts seem to be in this year . . . seriously!), but it would add many of the time honored sea traditions. During the course of the evening we would have the parade of waiters and waitresses around the dining room with the guests napkins all waiving in the air. Then there would be the introduction of the chefs, maitre d’ s, and restaurant managers, all of this accompanied by our Celebrity orchestra who was playing positioned on the grand staircase between the two levels of the restaurant. Of course the menu included a lobster tail option and finished with Baked Alaska. The evening was topped off with the whole restaurant singing Old Lang Syne. All those well worn traditions get you thinking about icebergs, even as you ply the waters of the Caribbean.

All the pageantry was quite memorable. When our Cruise Director, Lisa, asked each section to cheer for their waiter and assistant waiter, the roar was ear-splitting. As for the food I chose to select the chef’s recommendations which led me to several savory choices, topped off by a lamb shank that may have been one of the top five meat dishes I’ve ever eaten. No, I didn’t choose either the lobster tail or the Baked Alaska (been there, done that) but the experience was memorable. Dwight brought out the camera and we had Tanja, the assistant Maitre D’ , take our team’s picture. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a copy of that, yet.

When we left the restaurant, as one of the final guests to leave for the evening, we realized another chapter was soon to come to an end. We tarried for far too long in the restaurant’s foyer and were soon joined by several other officers who had completed their long days as well. When we realized that the number of uniforms together looked like a military convention was in full swing we knew it was time to call it a night. Laura properly feted, a new dining experience recorded, and more memories made.

And the adventure continues . . .